Protesters plan sit-in at Anaheim City Hall

Aug. 21, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Several Anaheim residents show their support for district elections during a special Anaheim City Council meeting on Aug. 8. The council voted down a plan to put district elections on the November ballot. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Businesses around Anaheim High School put up plywood over windows before the Aug. 8 council meeting, in anticipation of potential violence -- it never materialized. KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait and Council Member Lorri Galloway listen to public comments during a special City Council meeting on Aug. 8. The two voted unsuccessfully to get two measure on the Nov. 6 ballot. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Several Anaheim residents show their support for district elections during a special Anaheim City Council meeting on Aug. 8. The council voted down a plan to put district elections on the November ballot. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – Frustrated with the results of the last City Council meeting, leaders of Take Back Anaheim are planning a large sit-in protest before Tuesday's council meeting.

Group leaders say many in the community were upset after the Aug. 8 meeting, when the council voted 3-2 against placing two measures on the November ballot.

Both potential ballot measures revolved around issues that many say lie at the root of recent community unrest.

One measure would have required a public vote on any proposed use of the city's hotel-bed tax as an incentive for private hotel development. The council majority – council members Gail Eastman, Kris Murray and Harry Sidhu – voted down placing that on the ballot, saying it was a "no growth" proposal that would kill jobs.

The other measure would have called for a public vote on changing the way City Council members are elected – from an at-large system to district elections. Supporters say it would guarantee better representation of Anaheim's ethnic minorities.

The same council majority voted that down, voting instead to form a 10-member advisory committee to study the issue.

"We want to do something different to express our anger and frustration," said Joanne Sosa, a leader of Take Back Anaheim. "We want to bring a tidal wave of change – we just want to do it in a peaceful way."

So, Sosa said, members turned to the idea of sit-in protests like those of the 1960s and in other nonviolent resistance movements.

The same group organized a protest at City Hall on July 24, days after two police shootings that killed two Latino men sparked community outrage. That protest – small at first – erupted into a clash with police when hundreds of demonstrators were unable to get inside the Council Chambers because of a lack of seating.

Sosa said they are expecting a peaceful demonstration this time and asking residents to bring lawn chairs, blankets and pillows to camp out on the steps and grass outside City Hall.

The protest is set to begin at 4 p.m. The council meeting starts one hour later.

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